Housing help needed PLEASE!

[Punky]

hi peeps. rather a sad situation here at Punkyville. i havn't been getting on well with my family for a while now, for various reasons which i won't go into. tonight, following a fight with my brother, who instigated it, i have been asked to leave home. i have a month to find somewhere else to live and move out of here. mom is giving it me in writing tomorrow. i am so shook up by this.

BUT...

i now need assistance in rebuilding my life, namely the 'housing' aspect of it. i need as much info as possible on moving out for the 1st time, Do's and Don'ts, tips n tricks, stuff i can blag from the government etc..

i know i'm asking a lot, but please help. i don't normally ask for much...please?
(not wanting to sound like a Big Issue seller)

peace.

[fraggie]

o man thats a crock o the brown stuff if i had any info for ya matey i wud deffo give it ya but im a home liver atm and dont really know about it.

hope sommat comes up soon matey, best wishes and take care

[floppybootstomp]

That's a bit f*****g harsh mate. Blimey, stay strong.

If you rent private accomodation, if you pay cheap, you'll probably only be able to afford a bedsit. Somewhere decent will cost a small fortune in rent.

Best bet is to go STRAIGHT AWAY to the Council and declare yourself homeless. Then keep bothering them. Every day, get on to them.

If you're in with your Doctor (GP) tell him you're having a nervous breakdown because of the situation and ask him to write a letter to the council and you need housing urgently or they will have a death on their hands.

Lie, bullrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish, cajole.

If you do get a council place, you're probably be quite happy there.

Parents are weird (I know, I'm one myself now ) but I was kicked out when I was 18 as well for generally being an unsociable and unstable little git, so I know how you feel.

I actually spent about a week sleeping rough before I managed to sort myself out.

Do you think your parents really mean it? Or maybe it's just an act to get you and your bruv to not ruck anymore? How come he ain't getting the boot then? Did you instigate the fight? Is there a lot of tension at home?

I think lay low for a few days then try and make the peace with your family and ask to stay there. Say sorry a lot, even if you don't mean it.

You're better off at home for now, believe me.

Good luck

[Punky]

trust me mate, they mean it this time. i've had similar incidents, like after i was arrested that time, but it was never as serious as this.
good idea about the doc, i'll talk to my psychology tutor about how to fake a nervous breakdown. i do intend to blag as much as possible from the council and education authority for this one too, as i don't see how i can possibly complete my A-levels this summer and work a full-time job at the same time. looks like i will be working full-time when i finish tho, so there goes the modern apprenticeship plan. it doesn't pay enough so i guess i cant do it, which is a bastard.
cheers for support.
peace

[Rave]

The council will basically pay pretty much all your rent if you're unemployed, as far as I can tell, even if you rent from a private landlord. If you have some income but not much they'll pay part of it. Unfortunately my wife and I earn just too much to qualify, we're poor, but not that poor. Anyway, walk into your local council's housing office (usually at the town hall) as soon as you can, preferably tomorrow, and they'll explain exactly what you need to do to sort yourself out with accomodation. Give them the sob story by all means, but straight out lying to get yourself accomodation is inadvisable, you can get yourself into some trouble that way, to say the least.

I can't see why you wouldn't get enough housing benefit to live on if you were doing a modern apprenticeship; there wouldn't be much point to them if the only people who could do them were living with their parents.

Rich :¬)

[Knoxville]

Harsh man

ever need somewhere to crash my living rooms yours dude.

[5lab]

punky i'd strongly advise seeing if one of your mates parents can help out till you finish school. if you explain the situation to them, and offer to help with rent etc in return for a couch/spare bed then i think they'd understand - i know all my mates parents would if i were in a similar situation

[Russ]

just ring the council, explain your situation, and what area you would idealy like to live in. they'll sort you out, there nice people really.

[Howard]

Yeah Russ is right, they should help you out.

In the mean time sleeping at a friend's house isn't a bad idea. I know my parents wouldn't think twice about letting one of my mates stay here if there were problems.

[grand_witch]

I recommend going to the Citizens Advise Bureau, they provide legal advice and help with exactly this kind of problem and its free.

Citizens Advice Link

They have helped me before with various things.

If you have to pay for accommodation a house share is the cheapest option. Checkout local newsagents and local papers.

[Punky]

I went to the What? centre in Stourbridge earlier, its kinda like a young people's help center and advice place. they've given me a list of a few private rent properties around here, and also ordered me forms to apply for income support and to be put on the council's books for housing. i can get £43 a week to help cover rent, plus whatever else i can get from blagging vigorously. college will also give me more money for studying, and i can get benefits even when doin a modern apprenticeship like i planned. just gotto find a flat now.
cheers for the offer Knoxeh, hope i aint in the position to take u up on it tho :S
cheers for advice
peace.

[Bunjiweb]

dude thats harsh, u know if u need to talk about anything i'm around alot, or give me a call if u need... just ask.

Unfortunatly i can't give you any advice as i still live with the 'rents. But i do plan to move out in August / September time...

Ben

[shiato storm]

i seem to recall you were in a similar stitched up situation where you got caught by police smoking some wacky-tobaccy...damn, not having the best of times are you? what was the incident provoked by? and why will your parents not listen you a voice of reason? is there a mutual friend you can talk to that will talk to your parents on your behalf, as from personal experience my rentals seem to 'listen' to my younger bro all the time and never myself. example; he could literally run up to them and say I've been annoying him, cue an endless barrage of shouting and general ear-bashing...its not until a mate of my older bro's said it was kind of weird how they have very little simpathy for myself and older bro whne compared to younger...its not his fault but he knows hpw to play them, and so he does, not all the time but he certainly does some of the time.
I suggested they see a psychologist about their rather blatent favouritism, clearly they didn't like it when I said that but it shut them up. its more a case of that they 'expect' myself and older bro to act in a certain way [even though we don't] and so they act (rather than re-act) in certain situations thus making any kind of conversation rather pointless anyway. therefore perhaps a mutual friend might help to explain that you're - not victimised, wrong word; too strong, but more than simply unluck - and you need their help for school etc.
i sincerely hope that you get to finish school as that would be the most important thing right now, correct? I doubt you're parents would dispute that. once thats done then you can do more with your life and, if you so wish, get yourself as far from your parents, and brother, and make a living elsewhere. but it will mean pulling yourself together [no drugs], acting responsibly and all the other stuff you probably hear lots of and proving you're not a lost cause. knowing you on the forum can say you appear to be reasonably intelligent and that given the right environment could be extremely successful. are you dyslexic? i only ask as it could be - seeing things differently - parents not being totally acceptable to the things you do. my older bro WAS like that, to some extent still is but he's more mature and gets by very well...just a thought anyway.
hope you can sort things out, take it easy

[Punky]

well, just talked to mom for 1st time since last nite, and she seemed a bit shocked that i'd started to make all these arrangements. she asked me if moving out was what i wanted, and i said yes. tbh, i'm uncomfortable living here any more, too much tension, pressure etc.. i think getting my own place will help me sort out my life too. gotto see how it all goes.
peace.

[shiato storm]

fair do's. good luck to ya man.

[SilentDeath]

not going to judge whats happened as noone of us know what has but g/l getting it sorted.

As rave said theres no point in lieing to the counsil as they will be trying to help you. Try to get yourself a part time job like just weekends and one night in the week (shouldnt interfere with your a-levels), do about 8-18 hours max. Assuming your 18 you shouldnt have any problems finding a job paying £5-6/hour or more a week.

My brother is at uni in plymouth which is a very different situation becuase he has loans etc.. to fall back on, but I think his rent was something like £40-80 a week depending on where he was (3rd year now I think). For food you could probably manage at £10-25 a week.
Some housing may include heating and electricity bills while others may not, something to look out for..